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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In just a matter of seconds, Rita Connolly’s life drastically changed recently. With joy and tears streaming down her face, Connolly rolled in her wheelchair into Ildereton Conversions in Charlotte where she was surprised with a new set of wheels.
“I know how much you need this wheelchair van and the challenges that you’ve been through,” Lisa Sexton said to Connolly while giving her a hug. “It’s been rough,” she added.
Spina bifida, paralyzed feet and increased muscle weakness in recent years have led the 56-year-old wife and mother to lose her ability to independently get around. Tasks many of us often take for granted, like a trip to the grocery store or doctors office, became difficult and nearly impossible.
“Everything just started getting worse and worse for me, depression and stuff like that because I couldn’t get out,” Connolly said.
And when she did get out, it was in a van driven by her husband that was not equipped for Rita or her wheelchair. Connolly’s children were forced to help lift her inside, where she dangerously sat on the floor with no seatbelt, crammed next to her 400-pound wheelchair.
“It’s hard enough to get up in the morning and get in the shower. It’s hard to do all that. And then to have to go to the car and then squeeze myself into the car and use all that energy. By the time I get somewhere, it’s like the day is ruined for me almost,” Rita said of her experience.
Thanks to Lisa Sexton and All Things Possible Medical Fundraising, community partners like Ilderton Conversion of Charlotte and other donors and volunteers, she received the keys to a wheelchair accessible van that will allow her to stay seated in her wheelchair and drive herself using her hands.
“The wheelchair will actually have a locking bracket on the bottom of the chair, a grade-A bolt pin that will actually come in here and lock into place. So that will actually hold the wheelchair in place,” Mike Alfaro, general manager of Ilderton Conversion of Charlotte, said.
“Oh, I get so excited. The public has really come together and donated, and we just pray that that continues because there’s no greater blessing than to change a life,” Sexton said of the donation.
The group has worked to make an impact for 49 people since 2013 with each accessible van driving toward mobility and a renewed sense of self-worth.
“People don’t think about disabled people and what they have to do to get places and what they can afford and what they can’t afford. And so this is one organization that’s focusing on this very thing. And it’s not just a vehicle, it’s helping somebody’s dreams come true. So that’s really what happened for me,” Connolly said while laughing.
It’s a mission that’s close to Sexton’s heart. Before starting the nonprofit, she faced her own set of medical hardships that led her to want to help her neighbors in need. And that’s when she found out just how many people needed wheelchair accessible vans, but couldn’t afford one.
So All Things Possible Medical Fundraising’s mission changed from helping meet all medical needs, to focusing primarily on helping people obtain wheelchair accessible vans. And that’s why the nonprofit is officially changing its name to All Thing Possible Mobility. Sexton hopes their mission as one of the only nonprofits in the country doing this type of work only continues to grow. And recipients like Connolly say they couldn’t be more grateful.
“This is life-changing safety equipment that will last for years and years and get her to her medical appointments and be able to do physical therapy and get there safely to just go visit family, you know, and go to church, be part of the community,” Sexton said.
“The nerves were really bad coming in but I’m just so excited now, like I don’t know what to do first. My brain doesn’t know what to do first,” Connolly added.
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Caroline Blair
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